Another Southeastern Conference opponent up, another one down for LSU’s volleyball team.
Friday night in the PMAC, it was Georgia for the second time this season falling victim to the No. 20 Tigers, 3-1 (25-18, 25-17, 23-25, 25-23).
The victory was the 10th in the last 11 for LSU (17-5, 11-2), who remains slightly out of reach of Kentucky for the overall SEC lead. The Tigers have dropped a mere five sets in their past 12 matches, recording eight sweeps in that span.
But LSU coach Fran Flory said it wasn’t her team’s best performance, as the Tigers dropped the third set and came out sluggish in the fourth.
“We didn’t have our best tonight, and you have to credit Georgia for that,” Flory said. “But you have to be excited about how we rebounded at the end of the fourth set. Our seniors just decided they were going to get it done.”
Once again, the Tigers’ defense helped to carry the team, as the team racked up 12 blocks to go along with 69 digs while holding the Bulldogs (13-10, 4-8) to a .141 team attacking percentage.
Senior outside hitter Marina Skender was second on the team in kills with 13 on 51 attempts and recorded a team-high 16 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
She also moved into No. 8 on the all-time kills list past former Tiger Jennifer Hampton.
Offensively, senior middle blocker Brittnee Cooper started to find her rhythm again recording 16 kills on a .524 attacking percentage after struggling in the past few matches.
“Cooper has been struggling, and that’s partially because we haven’t forced her the ball as many times,” Flory said. “When she gets enough swings, her efficiency is going to keep going up.”
The Tigers came out strong in the first set, led by senior outside hitter Marina Skender’s five kills on 11 attempts to go along with five digs.
The team recorded three blocks in the set en route to a 25-18 set victory.
In the second set, LSU recorded a more efficient sideout percentage (70 percent) than the first set (47 percent).
LSU senior outside hitter Lauren DeGirolamo recorded five kills in the set, while the team hit an impressive .351 attacking percentage.
LSU fell behind early in the third set by as many as seven at 12-5 and never really got the momentum going in their favor in the set.
The Tigers got the score tied at 20 eventually but never took the lead in the set, falling 25-23.
Freshman outside hitter Madie Jones provided a spark for the Tigers late in the set with five kills during the run that put the Tigers in position to take the set.
The Tigers again came out slow in the fourth set, falling behind 15-9. But LSU went on a 7-1 run to tie up the match at 16 apiece before eventually taking a 19-18 lead and the set, 25-23.
 
 
—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]